1980 GS1000S Progress!!

[Vmass]

Thanks to many of you on this site, I have made some progress on this bike I rescued from sitting in a basement for more than 10 years.
When I picked it up, it had pods. It was recommended that I find a stock air box set up and remove the pods. It took some searching, but as you will see in the pictures below, I found all needed parts with the exception of the left side chrome trim ( anyone got one?).

I rebuilt the carbs using a combination of the O-ring kit and the K & L rebuild kit. This was the first set of carbs I rebuilt. Overall, not too bad. I did break one on the float posts, which sent me on another search for a donor carb.

I also replace the intake boots and air box boots. After reading several posts regarding the difficulty of putting the carbs back in with the stock air box, I was concerned that I would not be able to do it on my own. No problem....It actually was much simpler than expected. Just a little finagling and they were in!!

The only part I don't have installed is the breather hose on top of the air box, How much will this affect performance?

The bike started right up and sounds pretty good, with the exception of a chain like noise as low rpm, like just before it would stall. When on the throttle a bit, it sounds awesome. any ideas on that? I know I have more fine tuning to do.

No fuel leaks!!! All four pipes hot!! The previous owner told me he put the bike away in great running condition, so I am hopeful it doesn't have any major issues.

Here are a couple pics with the pods and with the new air box, after cleaning. And yes, I followed the card rebuild tutorial to a 'T'!!

Thanks everyone for your help...let's keep it going...

 

[Jason the terminator]

Where is it coming from? If it's coming from up front I would imagine it is your cam chain. If it's on the right side I'm guessing it could be your clutch rattling.

 

[hampshirehog]

I'd go along with Jason's thoughts on the engine noise. Probably nothing to worry about - on the point of stall all these old air cooled bikes are a bit noisy.

As for the breather, it won't affect running but you should pop a hose on there. Not only are you contributing excessively to greenhouse gases confused with it missing but, if the motor does belch up a bit, you could end up getting a bit of an oily mess on your engine that'll need cleaning.

 

[Nessism]

Since your bike has a header the carb jetting may need some tweaking. Please do some plug checks to make sure the mixture is not overly lean.

Clutch rattle is very common on the chain drive 1000. It's common on other models too but for some reason more noticeable on the 1000, maybe because the clutch basket is open and the noise gets out. A vacuum carb sync typically helps reduce the noise to some extent. You can verify if the noise is clutch rattle by pulling in the clutch; if the noise goes away, it's clutch rattle.

 

[Vmass]

Yeah Baby!!!! I just took it for a ride down the street. That rattle is indeed the clutch!!! When the gas was on and moving, the engine sounded perfect!! I am sure it is fine tuning time.

I may prefer to get some hands on help if anyone is interested. I am happy the way my carbs turned out but the syncing and valve tuning has me a little concerned.

That was the most enjoyable 100 yard ride I have ever taken!!

 

[John Kat]

I had the some clutch rattling issue when I rebuilt my first GS 1000.
It typically occurs when the engine is iddling but always when the engine is not under load.
The reason is that the primary transmission has a helical gear cut that eitheir pushes the clutch basket out when the engine is pushing the bike or pulls it in when coasting.
Any hesitation between the pull and the push creates the rattling noise.
Suzuki's answer to this is a 10 cent ( so to speak) piece of rubber that absorbs this vibration.
It's easy to overlook this when rebuilding the clutch as it is so small
The part is the #2 on the following drawing:http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs1000-1980-et_model13506/partslist/FIG-14.html

 

[Rover]

I have a Mecury sync you can use. It's a virgin as I have not used it yet.
If possible I'd like to be there, we could learn together as I have some carbs apart right now.
Perhaps other local GSers would like to attend .If your up to it PM me.

 

[Nessism]

I had the some clutch rattling issue when I rebuilt my first GS 1000.
It typically occurs when the engine is iddling but always when the engine is not under load.
The reason is that the primary transmission has a helical gear cut that eitheir pushes the clutch basket out when the engine is pushing the bike or pulls it in when coasting.
Any hesitation between the pull and the push creates the rattling noise.
Suzuki's answer to this is a 10 cent ( so to speak) piece of rubber that absorbs this vibration.
It's easy to overlook this when rebuilding the clutch as it is so small
The part is the #2 on the following drawing:http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs1000-1980-et_model13506/partslist/FIG-14.html

Sorry if this seems negative John, but I believe you are incorrect regarding your assessment. The clutch rattles because of play between the hub and the gear. The hub is spring loaded relative to the gear and lash develops between the parts. Shimming the springs or better yet, installing heavier springs and backplate are the proper fix. Please check this link for more info... http://www.theflyingbanana.com/clutchhub.htm

 

[John Kat]

I can only say that I believed the issue was the one you mention until I replaced the clutch hub with a new one to no avail
The noise finally went away when I installed the rubber damper
In any case it's far cheaper to change the rubber damper first before tackling a new hub.

 

[Nessism]

That little nub is to damp oil pump gear noise, but it won't help if the clutch hub springs are loose.

 

[John Kat]

When Suzuki introduced their four stroke models it was a good copy of the Kawasakis with a few important improvements.
One of them was to use helical gears for the primary transmission versus the more noisy straight cut gears.
The one drawback was the fact that the clutch basket moves fore and aft on it's shaft if the bike accelerates or decelerates.
To damp this, the Suzuki engineers added the little rubber nub that pushes the hub out.
Kawasakis of the period did not have this rubber nub as it was not needed.
Last but not least both brands have the same clutch construction proof enough that it's not the clutch per se that rattles at least when new

 

[Rudeman]

Thanks to many of you on this site, I have made some progress on this bike I rescued from sitting in a basement for more than 10 years.
When I picked it up, it had pods. It was recommended that I find a stock air box set up and remove the pods. It took some searching, but as you will see in the pictures below, I found all needed parts with the exception of the left side chrome trim ( anyone got one?).

I rebuilt the carbs using a combination of the O-ring kit and the K & L rebuild kit. This was the first set of carbs I rebuilt. Overall, not too bad. I did break one on the float posts, which sent me on another search for a donor carb.

I also replace the intake boots and air box boots. After reading several posts regarding the difficulty of putting the carbs back in with the stock air box, I was concerned that I would not be able to do it on my own. No problem....It actually was much simpler than expected. Just a little finagling and they were in!!

The only part I don't have installed is the breather hose on top of the air box, How much will this affect performance?

The bike started right up and sounds pretty good, with the exception of a chain like noise as low rpm, like just before it would stall. When on the throttle a bit, it sounds awesome. any ideas on that? I know I have more fine tuning to do.

No fuel leaks!!! All four pipes hot!! The previous owner told me he put the bike away in great running condition, so I am hopeful it doesn't have any major issues.

Here are a couple pics with the pods and with the new air box, after cleaning. And yes, I followed the card rebuild tutorial to a 'T'!!

Thanks everyone for your help...let's keep it going...

That stock seat is in excellent shape. As for the jetting, I ran 120 mains and 42.5 pilots on mine when it was stock and running a Yoshimura header. I enlarged the breather opening in the airbox as well.

Nice bike!

 

[Vmass]

I have a Mecury sync you can use. It's a virgin as I have not used it yet.
If possible I'd like to be there, we could learn together as I have some carbs apart right now.
Perhaps other local GSers would like to attend .If your up to it PM me.

Have trailer will travel!! Sounds good to me. Just so you know, I am truly a novice. I am truly amazed I have got this far.

Should I have a stock pile of mains, gaskets, etc...? Or just roll with the stock one I put in at rebuild.

Maybe a valve adjusting expert would like to attend

 

[Vmass]

Well, after a few buckaroos.....it seems to be running pretty good. I took it for a 10 mile ride today. The looks the bike gets are amazing.

All the guages seem to work.. the temp guage creeped up a little but it certainly wasn't too hot.

I was able to find an NOS mirror.....pretty cool, complete with 1980 dust!

Front end has a hop or something, I suspect it is a flat spot on the tire, caused from sitting so long. It kinda of sucks.. the tires can't have more than a couple hundred miles on them but need to be replaced.

One of these days I am going to try to get together with a couple guys from the site fo ra tinkering day.

 

[Vmass]

I replaced the broken meter cover today and cleaned up the whole meter unit. Here is a before and after picture.

 

[Loki]

Looks beautiful, nice work :clap::clap:

 

[Frank Z.]

Nice looking dash there! Good work.
Wouldn't happen to have those old K&N's laying around would ya?

 

[Vmass]

Sorry Frank, Wes Cooley bought those a month ago.

 

[Vmass]

Does anyone know why Suzuki moved the clock toggle switch the hidden location on the 1980? The 79 was on the meter case and the hole is plugged with a rubber grommet on the 80.

 

[cvmgtwowheels]

Hello Vmass:
Where or how did you replace the gauge cluster glass ? Mine has been broken since 79 two weeks after it rolled out the show room. Your's is looking sweet.
Jim